Articles on Electric Vehicles

Recargo's DCFC Station Contract on 101 in Central California has expired

Recargo's California Energy Commission contract to build eight DC fast-charging stations from Buellton, California to the San Francisco Bay Area on Hwy 101 has "expired."

According to CEC staff, the contract expired after the CEC issued a stop work order on the contract.

Recargo is the parent company of PlugShare.com. The southern California company, owned by German utility subsidiary Innogy, had completed a highly rated DCFC station near Prunedale on Hwy 101. The Prunedale station has six high-power charging kiosks where drivers can pay to charge with their PlugShare app.

Hwy 101 is a major north-south corridor in California linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Francisco Bay Area. The stretch of roadway from Buellton to Prunedale in the area of Salinas, California is a distance of nearly 200 miles. South of Paso Robles there are a series of ChargePoint stations in Santa Maria and in Buellton itself. There is one lone 24 kW ChargePoint kiosk in Paso Robles. North of Paso Robles there is no working DCFC station for 100 miles until Salinas.

Recargo's contract had included the long-awaited station in San Luis Obispo. However, Electrify America, the VW subsidiary, has built a station in nearby Pismo Beach. That EA station--like several other EA stations in Central California--is not operational. EA has also started construction on stations in Paso Robles as well as Greenfield.

EVgo has two working DCFC kiosks in San Luis Obispo and more in the Salinas area.

Recargo's other CEC contract for DCFC stations on Hwy 101 north of San Francisco remain under discussion. Stations in this contract must be completed by the end of the first quarter 2020 unless the contract is extended to 2021.